Fracking is used to extract onshore natural gas from areas rich in shale rock. It involves the pumping of a high-pressure mix of water, chemicals, and sand into the rock to create openings so that gas can seep out into deep wells.

The process of exporting gas as LNG requires an energy-intensive process of transporting, purifying, and cooling it into a liquid via a network of pipelines and export terminals from where it is shipped overseas on tankers as long as 275 meters.

According to Friends of the Earth Europe, the EU has awarded €1.3bn of subsidies to PCI-backed gas projects in the last four years.

“Gas is a dangerous fossil fuel which emits significant amounts of greenhouse gases,” said extractive industries campaigner for Friends of the Earth Europe, Antoine Simon.

“The Commission would be wise to take note that the era of unquestioning support for gas is over – and focus on delivering a clean fossil free energy transition,” he added.

“Opposition to gas projects is growing fast all around Europe – from Ireland to Croatia, Sweden to Italy, from Spain to Estonia. New gas projects would only help to create a fossil fuel lock-in in Europe, which we absolutely cannot afford if we want to avoid catastrophic climate change and go fossil free.”

Campaign group Not Here, Not Anywhere deliver petition to Minister of Environment in September to ban oil and gas exploration Photo: Niall Sargent